The present invention is directed to a method of treating hydratable polymers, compositions obtained therefrom having properties and uses not possible or recognized previously, and methods of using them. In the past, aqueous compositions of hydratable polymers have been prepared by methods using significant agitation which shears the polymers' repeating molecular structure resulting in products which are irregular and not of uniform structural compositions. While the materials obtained from such processes are useful products in a number of fields, there are certain areas where such nonuniform and irregular structural compositions have not been useful.
The present invention provides a method of treating hydratable polymers and the resulting compositions in which their structural repeating molecules are intact rather than sheared which results in hydrated polymer compositions having properties not recognized previously and effective for uses for which sheared structural polymer compositions are not useful.